The Role of Social Interaction in the Development of an Alcohol Addiction in Rats
Date
1995
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
The role of social interaction in the development of an alcohol addiction was explored. Sixteen female, albino Sprague-Dawley rats consumed alcohol over the course of fifty-four days in either group or individual drinking conditions. Alcohol consumption was measured in order to discern the influence of social interaction on drinking behavior. Periodic choice tests and half-switches were conducted in order to monitor the development of an alcohol preference or addiction. Generally, the drinking condition had no effect on the amount of ethanol consumed. However for the choice test days, rats drinking in groups consumed more fluid overall than did the rats drinking in individual conditions F(1, 14) = 5.05, p = .041. Furthermore, rats in the individual drinking conditions tended to consume a higher percentage of the total fluid consumed as ethanol F(1,14) = 4.01, p = .065. None of the subjects developed an alcohol preference or an addiction. Results of this study instead indicate a possible interaction between stress and social facilitation.